


A Rock & A Hard Place

by badwolf_doctor



Series: Ain't No Fortunate Son [3]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, How many parental issues can I stuff into one fic?, I'm just trying to forge it into something better, Look man AC lore is already broken, Poor Desmond is about to have a rough time, Set Pre-Origins, Shocking Revelations, Villain reveal, b/c honestly is it a good story unless the protagonist is suffering occasionally?, double the chases and escapes, like all of Ubisoft's lore, so it's about 2016 time wise, various movie references, we get to witness some character growth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:15:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21735121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badwolf_doctor/pseuds/badwolf_doctor
Summary: Desmond Miles' life had changed exponentially over the course of four months (not counting the wholecomathing); the life he led before was almost unrecognizable to him. Now part of a rescue mission to bring back two missing Assassins, Desmond's life is about to change again.
Series: Ain't No Fortunate Son [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/369272
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is dialogue heavy for some reason. There'll be more action next chapter.

Desmond had been on exactly **one** rescue mission in his time with the Assassins…two, he supposed, if you counted his **own** rescue, but he didn’t since Lucy had done all the rescuing on that one; he’d spent most of it locked in a trunk.

The rescue mission where he’d _actually done_ stuff hadn’t exactly been what he’d call a roaring success—sure, he’d rescued his Dad and killed Vidic (seriously, **fuck** that guy), but looking back, he’d gone a little mad with power. There wasn’t a need to make those guards kill themselves; he probably could have made them walk away instead.

Regardless, he was a part of _this_ rescue mission and he was on edge. It had been a long time since he’d been on a mission and despite the Doc telling him that he was ready, he still had his doubts. Rescuing the missing Assassins was **important** and he didn’t want to be the one to fuck things up. Ismail and DK were his friends. And being familiar with Abstergo’s _‘’hospitality’’_ as he was, he knew it was nothing he’d wish on anyone. Despite the circumstances of his return to the field and his lingering doubts, he was glad for it. He was tired of only being able to sit around while others went out and risked their lives. 

He also knew that he wasn’t half on edge as much as some of the others—namely Bat and Hadassah. Bat was pacing around the room; the nervous, fidgety energy coming from him was palpable. And Hadassah? Well, she was worried too, but it manifested in a hyper-fixation on the map stretched out before them, instead of nervous energy like Bat.

  
  


“Alright Nate,” Rebecca pulled up the blueprints on the screen in the main room. Everyone had gathered there to work out a rescue plan. “In your professional opinion, what’s the best way in?”

  


Nate looked over the map, pondering in silence for a few moments as he flipped through copies of recon notes. “This loading bay here,” he motioned to a spot with one hand. “Looking at the layout of this place, and DK’s notes, this looks like the closest point of entry to where potential prisoners are kept.” He paused, looking back over the notes. “I trust DK’s judgment. And the faster we get in and out, the less likely it is that Abstergo even knows we were there.” Nate finished.

  


“You think our luck’s that good?” Bat asked, his worry evident despite his joking tone.

  


“Historically, no.” Tanner answered. “But we have to at least try, right?”

  


Nate’s plan sounded solid to Desmond. “Exactly. We can’t leave anyone behind.” He said, thinking about a promise he’d made. (Or maybe hadn’t made. One of these days he was going to have to sit down and figure out it what happened to him while he was in a coma was real or not.)

  


“Do you think we should have multiple entry points or a distraction of some kind?” Shaun asked.

  


Nate shook his head, running a hand through dark hair. “No, took many cooks in the kitchen and all that. Three or four people can sneak in easier than half a dozen or more.”

  


“He makes a valid point.” Hadassah said. “And in that case, you _know_ I’m going.”

  


That didn’t really surprise Desmond; Ismail was her brother, so of course she’d want to take part in the rescue mission.

  


“Me too.” Bat said.

  


Hadassah shook her head. “No way, B.” she said.

  


“Ismail is in _trouble_ Hadassah; I can’t just sit around and do nothing.” Bat countered.

  


”I’m not asking you to do nothing. But you’re not going into the field for this one.” Hadassah was adamant, crossing her arms and daring Bat to argue with her.

  


”I’m going.” Predictably, Bat argued.

  


“No, Hadassah’s right—you lose your sense when it comes to Ismail; that’s dangerous in a situation like this.” Rebecca said. The archivist visibly deflated.

  


“We’ll bring him back in one piece, I promise. DK too.” Hadassah swore, placing a comforting hand on Bat’s shoulder.

  


“I suppose if Hadassah is going, then so am I.” Shaun said resignedly.

  


“I’ll go too—just in case anybody needs any emergency medical treatment.” Nate offered.

  


“I’ll go get a vehicle ready.” Tanner said, heading off towards the garage.

  


“And Isabela and I will stay here and coordinate as necessary.” Rebecca said. Isabela nodded in agreement.

  
  


“Where do you want me?” Desmond asked. He wanted to help, or at least be useful somehow.

  


“You can come with us.” Shaun said.

  


“You sure?” Both Desmond and Rebecca asked in almost perfect unison.

  


Shaun nodded. “Yeah, he’s gotta get back out there at some point. Plus, he’s good in a fight and we might need that.”

  


Desmond raised an eyebrow at Shaun’s response. “Do you always plan on fighting taking place?” Wasn’t the whole Assassin philosophy to only fight when absolutely necessary: the whole _blade in the crowd_ thing?

  


“Yes.” Both Shaun and Hadassah answered.

  


“No matter how well we plan, somehow, we always end up fighting someone, somewhere. And by _‘we’_ , I mean _‘Hadassah’_.” Shaun said, nudging his partner, who shrugged.

  


“Sometimes, you just gotta punch people.” She answered.

  


“Sounds good to me.” Desmond replied. Sneaking around was all well and good, but you had to know when to fight instead of running away. And Desmond was done running.

  


* * *

  


“C’mon,” Nate instructed. “We’ll stop by the armory on our way to the garage; Tanner should have our transport ready.”

  


Anticipation and worry mixed in Desmond in equal measure. What if Isabela was wrong and he wasn’t ready? What if he got everyone caught—or worse?

  


“Hey, are you alright?” Shaun asked, placing a hand on Desmond’s arm.

  


“Just antsy.” Desmond replied.

  


“Everything will be fine—you can do this, and the rest of us will be there to have your back.”

  


Desmond managed a smile at that, some of his nerves lessened. He wasn’t used to Shaun being so optimistic or supportive; apparently, Shaun had grown quite a lot from the grumpy historian he remembered.

* * *

  


Desmond’s only experience with an armory had been at Monteriggioni, and while this one was smaller and not as fancy, it was fairly well stocked with everything from rifles, to hidden blades. Desmond hadn’t spent any time in here before now, there’d never been any reason to; why mess with weapons if you weren’t going to be able to go out and use them anytime soon?

  


“Pick whatever gear you’d like, Desmond.” Hadassah said, gesturing to the gear.

  


“I think you’ll need this though.” Shaun said, tossing something to him. Desmond caught it with ease. It was his hidden blade, he realized as he stared at it.

  


“You guys kept it?” Desmond asked; strangely touched by the gesture.

  


“Of course.” Shaun explained. “Rebecca and I always knew you were going to wake up, so we kept it ready for when you did.” Shaun grinned. “Of course, if you didn’t, we could have always given it to Bat to put with the historical artifacts: a memento of the man who stopped the solar flare.” He added.

  


Desmond laughed. “So, Altair got a statue in Monteriggioni and I get a solitary hidden blade in a hidden museum; how is that fair?” he joked as he slipped on the blade.

  


“Well, you know how it goes—budget cuts and all that.” Shaun barely managed to keep a straight face as he shrugged.

  


Desmond laughed again as he went back to looking over the weapons. After a moment, he picked up a sheathed knife, slipping it onto his belt.

  


“A man after my own heart.” Nate remarked, with a grin, tucking his own knife into one boot, then picking up another one and attaching it to his belt. “I _do_ like a man who knows his way around a knife.”

  
  


Unless Desmond was mistaken, it kind of seemed like maybe Nate was flirting with him. Which, was **odd** ; not because Nate was a guy, no, Desmond had figured out he was bi before he’d ever left the farm. Nate was definitely handsome, and Desmond certainly didn’t mind the flirting (would have _encouraged_ and even **returned** it if he weren’t so rusty at it). No, it was odd because Desmond couldn’t remember the last time someone had flirted with him. His life had changed so drastically over the course of four months that it was unrecognizable, everything that happened between leaving the farm and getting caught by Abstergo almost seemed to have happened to someone else.

  


“Geez,” Desmond couldn’t help but remark upon realizing that Nate was _still_ stashing knives on his person. “How many knives are you planning on taking?”

  


Nate shrugged. “Well, my personal rule is to carry as many as possible. That way, should you get caught, they’ll probably find one or two but not all of them. And then, at least, you’ll be armed.” Nate explained.

  


“And he just likes knives.” Shaun added.

  


“There’s nothing wrong with that!” Nate argued. “A good knife has a thousand and one uses!”

  


“He’s got a point.” Desmond agreed.

  


“Ha!” Nate shot Shaun a triumphant grin. “See, he agrees with me.”

  


“Give him a mission or two with you and I guarantee he’ll change his mind.” Shaun countered.

  


“Guys,” Hadassah cut in, clapping her hands together to get their attention. “Focus.”

  


“Right, sorry. Everybody good? Then let’s head to the garage.” Nate said.

  


* * *

  


Tanner had just finished with the tune up on Nate’s favorite vehicle when the others arrived. “Alright Basri, she’s ready to go.” He announced, patting the SUV on the hood. “Good luck out there.”

  


“Thanks Tanner. I’ll make sure it and everyone else makes it back in one piece.” Nate promised as he climbed into the front seat; the others climbed into the back.

  


“See that you do.” Tanner instructed, waving as the vehicle rolled out of the garage.

  
  


It was about an hour drive from their headquarters to where Ismail and DK had disappeared from. And for a while, they traveled in silence.

  


“So, I’ve got to ask,” Desmond said from his spot in the third row of seats. “Why an SUV instead of a van?”

  


“It handles better, blends in a bit more in the places we usually go. And, it’s also a personal preference.” Nate replied, meeting Desmond’s gaze in the rearview mirror with a smile.

  


They fell back into a comfortable silence until Shaun leaned over to Hadassah, who was sitting next to him. 

  


“How’s your arm?” he asked.

  


“Why, are you worried about me Hastings?” she teased, grinning.

  


“I’m your partner; I reserve the right to worry about you from time to time.” Shaun huffed.

  


Hadassah laughed softly, rolling up her sleeve and holding out her arm. “It was nothing a couple of stitches, a few bandages, and some pain killers couldn’t fix; luckily Isabela is good with all of those things. And it was nothing for you to worry about, ok?”

  


“Good.” Shaun said quietly. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

  
  


Hadassah cleared her throat, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “So, Desmond,” she turned to face him. “Isabela says you’re up for this, and I believe her. That being said, you should be careful; the last thing we need is you getting hurt again.”

  


“ _You’re_ telling people to be careful now, Sunshine; that’s new.” Nate’s tone was joking.

  


Hadassah frowned at him. “Look, the last thing we need is to get the guy who saved the whole damn world **hurt** or worse on our watch, ok?”

  


It was Desmond’s turn to frown. “I’m not some helpless kid, you know?”

  


“I didn’t say you were,” Hadassah turned her attention from Nate back to Desmond. “But like it or not, you’re important to the Brotherhood _and_ to people I care about. And traumatic near-death experiences don’t just affect you.”

  
  


She had a point, Desmond had to admit. He hadn’t even stopped to consider what his experiences had done to those closest to him. Shaun was obviously different, even if it mostly seemed like a good change. Rebecca hid it better than Shaun, but she too was different. And his Dad? Well, the man had practically vanished. And no one seemed to know with any certainty where he was. On the one hand, that was probably a good thing—if nobody knew where the Mentor was, then there was less chance of another _Daniel Cross_ situation happening. But on the other hand, William Miles was his father and despite a somewhat tense relationship, Desmond worried about him.

  


Speaking of Daniel Cross, that was another thing Desmond regretted about Rome; that he’d had to kill Cross. Daniel had spent _years_ under Vidic’s thumb and Vidic had used him to decimate the Order. That could have been Desmond, brainwashed into murdering his friends and family…one death of someone he cared about on his conscience was more than enough.

Sure, you could argue that Lucy’s death was Juno’s fault since she’d hijacked his body to do it, but it was still _his_ fault for not resisting her. He hadn’t worried too much about it at the time, because Juno had said Lucy was a Templar spy, and at the time it had made sense. But now Desmond knew that Juno was a lying piece of shit. And the Lucy he’d talked to while in a coma (was that even real? Who knew man—certainly not Desmond) had said Juno was lying about her betraying him. And while that Lucy had forgiven him, it didn’t change the fact that he felt guilty about it. And probably always would.

  
  


Nate laughed from the driver’s seat, cutting into Desmond’s thoughts. “That must mean she likes you,” He told Desmond, “She’s only protective of people she likes.”

  


“Shut up, I hate all of you.” Hadassah said, though she was smiling the whole time. It was nice to feel like a part of a team.

  


* * *

  


Rescue missions were the worst sort—especially when you were sitting on the sidelines. Rebecca couldn’t imagine how Bat must be feeling. He and Ismail weren’t officially together, but if either of them thought they were subtle then they were mistaken. And being forced to stand aside when someone you cared for was in danger was hell to get through. It was the right call though. Bat, historically, lost his common sense where Ismail was concerned. He did stupid things to impress or protect him, and that was the last thing they needed right now.

  


Rebecca didn’t regret her decision to get out of the field often—it was the right choice for her, she didn’t have handy Isu genes the way some of her companions did and it just got harder and harder to bounce back from injuries. But times like this, when her friends were in danger and she was left waiting for the opportunity to help, she did regret it. Isabela had gone to make sure the infirmary was ready in case of emergency and Tanner was either still in the garage or helping Isabela. This left Rebecca and Bat in the main room.

  


“Hey,” she said to Bat, who was still pacing around the room, full of nervous energy. “Why don’t you study the map and see if you can come up with a couple of escape routes in case things go bad—the more prepared we are, the less likely we are to be caught off guard.” Plus, that would give Bat something to do besides pacing around and making her nervous.

  


“Good idea.” He agreed. “Do you think they’re ok?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

  
  


They’d worked together for a while now, and Rebecca knew what Ismail and DK were capable of, so it was with no hesitation that she answered, “Absolutely. I bet they’re gathering all kinds of intel right now and making the Templars regret going into work today.”

  


Bat laughed and that seemed to calm him down. “Yeah,” he said, “You’re right. They’re gonna be fine. Thanks, Rebecca.”

  


“You’re welcome.” She replied. With that, Bat turned his attention back to the map and Rebecca turned her attention back to her computer. The team’s GPS put them a little ways out from their target, so it wouldn’t be long now.

  


* * *

  


From the outside, the building didn’t look like anything special; there was no Abstergo logo out front and no guards visible from outside. If Shaun had to guess the cause, he’d wager Abstergo wanted whatever was stashed here to go under the radar. That didn’t particularly bode well for Ismail and DK. But there wasn’t time to dwell on the possible hell his friends might have been going through, not if he and the others were going to make it in and out of this place undetected.

They left the car in an inconspicuous place nearby and made their way towards the back loading bay. A large, chain link fence was between them and the building.

Desmond watched in surprise as Nate pulled a pair of wire clippers out of his bag and began to clip the fence along the bottom.

  


“Do you just carry those around with you?” he asked, watching as Nate snipped a few more places before putting the clippers back in his bag.

  


“Well, yeah. It’s my job to get people in and out of places as quickly and effectively as possible—you never know what you’re gonna need to do that. I can improvise most tools, but I’m not MacGyver; I can’t rock a mullet, and I can’t make a bomb out of spit and bailing wire.” Nate said, rolling up the cut section of chain link so the others could duck under it.

  


“I don’t know, I think you could probably make a mullet work.” Desmond said, following after Hadassah.

  


“Carrying tools makes him look handy—he likes that.” Hadassah whispered to Desmond, who couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

  


“Alright,” Nate ducked under the fence with the others, “We’re kind of hidden here, but there’s a lot of open ground between us and the loading bay. And, I’m a little worried by the lack of guards.”

  


“You think there might be a hidden sniper or something weird like that?” Desmond asked. Weirder security measures had been taken by Abstergo in the past, so it wouldn’t surprise him.

  


“Could be.” Nate replied.

  
  


“Are you asking for volunteers? Because I’ll gladly go.” Hadassah said. Both Shaun and Nate frowned at her words and so she added, “Oh come on, I’m _definitely_ faster than you,” she pointed at Shaun, “so I probably have the best chance at getting to the building without getting shot by a hypothetical sniper. And if there _is_ a guard or two inside the loading area, I’m the one best suited to taking them out.”

  


Shaun leaned over to Nate with a resigned sigh, “She _is_ really good at beating up Templars.”

  


“Alright Kadiri, you made your case—now hop to it.” Nate said with a wave of his hand.

  


Hadassah grinned. “Awesome. Wait three minutes before you guys follow, just to be safe.”

  


With no further prompting or warning, Hadassah took off at a run towards the building. No shots were fired, so there probably wasn’t a sniper on the roof. So, that was at least one less thing to worry about. It took Hadassah no time at all to cross the yard and reach the loading bay, disappearing inside.

  


Nate eyed his watch carefully, ticking down the minutes. “Ok, Shaun you go next. Desmond, you wait till he gets to the edge of the building, and then follow after him.”

  


Shaun and Desmond both nodded. Then, Shaun set off towards the building, Desmond following not far behind and Nate following after both of them.

  
  


Hadassah meanwhile, was a little saddened to find there wasn’t a single guard inside the loading bay. Before she could have a proper look around the room, the others arrived one after the other.

“No guards.” She said to Shaun.

  


“No cameras, either.” He added, looking around.

  


“Do we think that’s suspicious, yea or nay?” Hadassah polled.

  


Shaun shrugged. “There’s a fancy electronic lock.” He pointed to the door leading inside. “Maybe they just don’t want even a temporary record of what goes in and out of this place.”

  


“Plausible theory, but I’m still voting suspicious.” Desmond interjected.

  


“They’re **Templars** , everything they do is inherently suspicious.” Nate said. The others couldn’t argue with that logic.

  


* * *

  


“Alright, stand back—let the professionals work.” Shaun managed to pry the faceplate off the lock. Then, he pulled out his laptop. He knew his way around a computer, but this would be a difficult lock to crack alone. Luckily, he knew where to get some help.

It only took a moment to call Rebecca, whose concerned face appeared on the screen.

  


“Everyone ok?” she asked in lieu of a ‘hello’.

  


“So far, so good.” Desmond said, leaning over Shaun’s shoulder.

  


Shaun shrugged Desmond off him, and for just a moment, it felt like old times. “It looks like this lock is going to take extra processing power; that’s why I called.” Shaun explained.

  


“I’ll see what I can do.” Rebecca said.

  


* * *

  


While Shaun and Rebecca worked on getting the door opened, Desmond turned his attention to the small office nearby. The door was unlocked, and inside was a computer. Desmond was no hacker, but it would at least be worth checking it out—any intel they could gather, no matter how mundane would be helpful. At least, he _hoped_ so.

  


“Good idea,” Hadassah, who had followed him into the office praised, as he sat down at the desk. While he focused on the computer, she began rifling through the desk drawers.

  


Turning on the computer monitor, he was prompted for a password. “Damn, it’s password protected.”

  


Hadassah handed him a post-it note with a string of letters and numbers on it. “Try this—found it hidden in the drawer.”

  


“You think it’s the password?” Desmond asked.

  


She shrugged. “You’d be surprised how many people write their passwords down and leave them near the computer.”

  


Desmond took the note from her and typed the supposed password into the computer…and was surprised when it unlocked. “Wow, I’ll have to remember that.”

  


“Here,” Hadassah handed him a flashdrive. “Copy everything you can to this—we’ll go through it all later.”

  
  


“So,” Desmond began as he started transferring files to the drive. “How are you holding up?”

Back at the base, she had seemed fairly stressed about her brother being missing. Now though, she seemed a lot more calm.

  


“Now that I’m actually out here **doing** something, I’m better than I was earlier. Staying busy keeps me from worrying too much. Once we get Ismail and DK out of here, I’ll be even better.”

  


“You and Ismail are close?” Ismail talked about his sister often, and usually said only good things, so Desmond would assume they were. Honestly, he was just making small talk to pass the time.

  


Hadassah shrugged. “I guess you could say that. He’s an overprotective ass sometimes, but he’s the only family I have.”

  


“We’re gonna get them out of here.” Desmond promised. The Assassin’s Brotherhood was going to change even if he had to personally drag them all kicking and screaming into said change. No more leaving people behind, no more treating them like pawns to be sacrificed whenever.

  


“I know.” Hadassah replied, before ducking back out the door.

  
  


Once Desmond was finished transferring the files to the flashdrive, he turned off the monitor and rejoined the others.

  


“About time you showed up.” Shaun remarked, though there was no bite to his words.

  


The door leading into the building proper opened with an audible _click_.

  


“And _now_ , for a rescue.” Nate said as the group headed inside.

  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looking back, this is the day Desmond would remember as the one that changed **everything**. More than finding out the war between Assassins and Templars, more than learning about the Isu, more than almost dying--more than _anything_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sad I didn't get this finished in time for Dec 21st. But it's here finally.

Elijah’s life was weird by any definition of the word. A couple of years ago, maybe more, maybe less, (he was uncertain how much time had passed; it was meaningless in this place), his mom had taken him to an Abstergo clinic to try and get some help with the nightmares that had plagued him his whole life. Not long after that, a group of armed men had broken into their apartment, killed his mother and carried him off to a secret facility to run test after test on him.

They called him a  _ prophet  _ and he knew that was true, instinctively somehow. But what exactly that meant, he didn’t know. He’d been moved from facility to facility every few months. Though, he never knew with any certainty where he was being moved. This time, he was in the basement of a building in some kind of detention area.

Elijah’s cell had a twin sized bed, and a small bookshelf; the one across the way in contrast, had only a single cot and nothing else. It seemed whoever had Elijah wanted him to at least be moderately comfortable.

Elijah watched as the guards brought in a man and a woman—shoving them roughly into the cell across the way.

“Keep shoving’ me pal, and when I get outta here, I’m gonna make you regret it.” He heard the woman snarl at the unimpressed guard.

There was a lot about this world Elijah had found himself in that he didn’t know or understand. But he’d heard the guards mention a group called the  _ assassins _ . And somehow, Elijah knew they were the enemy of the group that had him. So, it was a pretty safe bet that the man and woman across the way were Assassins. And if they were enemies of the people that were holding him captive, then maybe they’d help get him out of here?

He hoped so. Elijah didn’t know where he’d go; he didn’t have any other living relatives. But any place would be better than this one; it couldn’t possibly be worse.

* * *

DK was fed up with pushy Templars. When she got them out of the cell (and she **would** ) the guards were going to regret it.

“How long do you think it’ll take the others to realize we’re missing?” she asked Ismail, who was thoroughly looking over their cell.

“Depends.” He replied, turning the cot upside down. “If neither Bat nor Hadassah is back yet, then it could be a while. If they are back, they’re going to notice.” He and his sister were close, always had been. So, if she got back to base and he wasn’t there, and no one had heard from him in a while, she was  **going** to worry.

And Bat was hyper-aware of him as well. But for a different reason entirely. It wasn’t like Ismail was blind; Bat wasn’t subtle no matter what he thought. But until the archivist was actually ready to come out and say  _ hey, I like you—let’s go out on a date  _ or something similar, Ismail would remain silent. He didn’t want to push Bat into anything he wasn’t ready for.

So, it was safe to say that  _ <i>someone</i> _ would notice he and DK were gone, and they’d come looking.

“Good point.” DK agreed. “So, there’s probably a rescue coming. Do you think we’ve got enough time to find what we’re looking for before the others show up?”

“If he’s here, we’ll find him.” Ismail replied. “I don’t want to have to be the one to tell the Mentor we failed.”

DK nodded in agreement. That wasn’t something she wanted to do either.

  
  
  


“Hey!” interrupted a new voice. “If you’re getting out of here, take me with you!”

DK looked up to find a boy standing in the cell across from theirs. He looked no more than 12, scrawny and gangly with dark hair and mismatched eyes. This kid, whoever he was, was a prophet! Well, that made things easier.

  
  


Suddenly, things were looking up for them. This boy was the one they’d been sent to find. 

Months ago, Ismail had gotten a video call from William Miles telling him that they were going to have to infiltrate a secret Abstergo facility and rescue a prophet. 

William hadn’t elaborated on that at all--hadn’t told them the prophet was a kid. If he’d known that, he’d likely have devoted more time and resources to this. Of course, there was a lot their Mentor didn’t tell them.

Ismail didn’t mind secrets; everyone was allowed a few (like not telling your sister you were going to get captured by the enemy on  **purpose** ), but even he thought the Mentor kept too many. Too many secrets bred distrust. And if they couldn’t trust their Mentor, how was the Brotherhood supposed to survive?

“You’re Assassins, aren’t you?” the boy asked. 

  
  


“We are.” Ismail replied. “I’m Ismail, and that’s DK.”

  
  


“My name is Elijah.” 

  
  


“Don’t worry Elijah,” DK said with a warm smile. “When we get out of here, you’ll be coming with us.”

  
  


“We’d never leave without you; in fact, we came here to get you.” Ismail explained.

  
  


“You did?” Elijah asked.

  
  


Ismail nodded, “Yes. So whether DK and I figure a way out of this cell, or our friends show up to rescue us, we’ll all get out of here together--how does that sound?”

  
  


“Sounds good.” Elijah replied. The voice in his head he heard most often (Aita it called itself) told him not to trust the Assassins: ‘ _ they’ll use you’ _ , it said. But there was another part of him that wanted to trust them--that knew whatever they could offer him would be better than this place.

* * *

  
  


Meanwhile, Shaun and the others had made it inside the building.

“Huh, ok--it’s a  _ little _ weird there’s no guards inside.” Shaun remarked once they’d made it a little ways inside. It was one thing to not have any guards stationed around the back of the building--maybe they didn’t want to draw attention to the place; there  **should** however, be guards  _ somewhere _ . Abstergo, for all its technological advancements, didn’t simply rely on tech to keep watch over their carefully hoarded treasure. 

“Told you it was suspicious!” Hadassah exclaimed in a rather loud whisper.

“Less smug remarks, more keeping an eye out for guards and/or cameras.” Nate said, tapping Hadassah on the shoulder. Once they got Ismail and DK out of this place, Shaun and Hadassah could snark at each other to their hearts’ content. Honestly, how they got any work done without someone to keep them on task, surprised Nate.

“Hey, I can be smug  _ and _ helpful at the same time; it’s called multitasking Nate. Besides, no cameras,” she motioned around the hallway, “no guards. Something  **weird** is going on here. I’m pretty sure Area 51 has more security measures than this, and it probably doesn’t have  _ half _ the kind of secrets this place does.” 

Hearing Nate sigh, Shaun looked back at him from over his shoulder, “She does have a way of making paranoia sound possible.”

“It’s not really paranoia when there  _ are _ people trying to kill you.” Desmond interjected. “Also, she has a point. Shouldn’t we have run into  _ someone _ by now--a guard, a lab tech,  _ someone _ ? Or at the very least some kind of security measure?”

  
  


Before Shaun could answer, the hallway opened up into a small vestibule with various other hallways connected to it. 

“Which way?” Desmond asked curiously. 

“According to DK’s intel--the cells are down this way,” Shaun pointed to the middle hallway. “I’m also picking up some kind of power fluctuations from this way too. And what may be a camera signal.”

“What does that mean?” Nate asked. 

“It means I’m getting some interference, and so I need to be closer to actually pick up said signal.” Shaun replied. 

“Works for me. I guess we’re going this way then.” Desmond shrugged.

This whole situation was making Shaun nervous. The lack of guards, the power fluctuations, even the weak camera signal made him uneasy. He liked to claim that Hadassah was overly paranoid when it came to Templar related things, but it  _ did _ sort of seem like maybe they were walking into a trap. Like this place was meant to draw them in and never let them out; like some kind of modern labyrinth--except in this case, instead of David Bowie or a minotaur lurking therein, it was Templars. (That would be rather disappointing on the whole, Shaun would much rather find David Bowie in  _ incredibly _ tight pants and a ton of glitter; or at the very least, a bloodthirsty beast of legend.) 

As they crept closer, the camera signal became stronger. Unfortunately, at the end of the hallway, Shaun could just make out the figure of two guards standing on either side of what looked like an elevator. 

‘ _ Flashbang’ _ , he mouthed to his partner. Tucking his laptop safely back into his bag, Shaun pulled out a small device from the front pocket of the bag. There would be no time to hack these cameras, not with those guards there. But they could fry the cameras. He and Rebecca had made these small localized EMP devices with help from Ismail. It  _ should _ be enough to fry the cameras--hopefully without hitting the elevator, but it was a risk they’d have to take at this point. And a flashbang would give them an advantage over the guards. 

On the count of 3, Shaun tossed out the mini-EMP, and Hadassah tossed out a flashbang. Once the guards were stunned, Desmond pounced on the nearest one, dispatching him with little resistance.

“For a man who’d been out of the game for a while, you sure are fast on your feet.” Nate said, breaking the neck of the second guard. 

Desmond shrugged. “Have to be; I don’t wanna be a burden, you know?” There was a lot of time where he hadn’t been able to help, where people he had and hadn’t known had sacrificed themselves to keep him safe. He needed to make sure that never happened again.

“I don’t think you were ever a burden, Desmond.” Nate replied. 

Shaun pushed the button for the elevator, with no success. The EMP must have fried the elevator as well. Great, they were going to have to climb down.

“Lucky I came prepared then, isn’t it?” Nate asked, pulling a headlamp out of his bag. 

“Show off.” Shaun muttered as he and Hadassah pried open the elevator doors. Hadassah gave Shaun a boost so he could open the emergency hatch atop the elevator, and then the rest of them followed him through the now open hatch.

  
  


Climbing was one of the skills that Desmond had worked hard to relearn; the damage done to his arm by the Isu machine was extensive—far more than cosmetic. And while he had gotten most of his strength back in it, he was still worried about what was likely going to be a long climb down. More than once, his traitorous arm had given out on him while he’d been training. All he could do was  _ hope _ it didn’t do that here.

“Are you alright?” Shaun asked, likely seeing the worry written on his face. 

“Just a little worried about my arm.” Desmond replied honestly, shaking the offending appendage . If Shaun cared enough to  _ ask _ what was bothering him, then he would hope Shaun would at least not make fun of his too much.

“Ah. Well, stick close to us and if anything happens, I promise we won’t let you fall.” That was...unexpected and surprisingly comforting. Teamwork had never really been Desmond’s strong suit, even before he left the Farm. In fact, that had been one of the biggest issues his father had with him back then. But, he  _ was _ part of a team now, and he needed to trust them— _ wanted _ to trust them. 

* * *

Downstairs, the doors to the detention area slid open and a pair of men dressed in dark clothing moved to pull Elijah out of his cell.

“Where are you taking him?” Ismail demanded to know, banging on the glass. He and DK couldn’t leave without Elijah and having to hunt him down in this place would complicate any rescue plan. Plus, knowing now that the prophet was a  _ child _ , he didn’t want to leave him in the Templars’ hands unsupervised.

The guards ignored him and Ismail and DK could only watch as the boy was dragged off.

“Damnit!” He swore, hitting the glass again. Wincing a bit as pain shot up his arm.

“Take it easy,” DK urged. “We’ll find him. There’s no reason to beat yourself up.” 

DK was right, of course. She usually was; he should know that by now. Still, he felt responsible for Elijah now. They were here to rescue him, and any indignity he suffered at the Templars’ hands while they were there, was on them. 

He and DK had searched the whole cell trying to find something they could either use as a weapon, or use to free themselves from the cell; they’d failed on both counts. So, there was truly nothing for them to do but wait for a rescue they weren’t even sure was coming.

As if the universe were answering their prayers, the doors to the detention area slid open again, revealing some familiar faces.

“Aren’t you a little short for an Abstergo goon?” DK asked with a smirk as Desmond and Shaun set about opening their cell.

“Oh very funny.” Shaun replied as the door swung open. “Now c’mon, let’s get out of here.” It had been a long climb down here and he was  **not** looking forward to climbing back up. He  _ was _ however, incredibly ready to get out of here. 

“We can’t leave yet,” Ismail interjected, wrestling himself free from his sister’s crushing hug. “We haven’t gotten what we came here for.”

“What?” Hadassah and Nate said in near perfect unison.

“There’s a boy here—he’s a prophet; the Mentor sent us here to get him, but even if he didn’t, we can’t leave him here with the Templars.”

“The menor sent you here?” Hadassah demanded; at the same time Desmond asked, “You got caught on purpose?”

“Yes.” DK replied. 

“That is an argument we can have once we’re out of here.” Ismail interjected, effectively cutting off whatever argument Hadassah was going to drag them into. They didn’t have time for that right now. She had every right to be angry, he hadn’t exactly been thrilled by the assignment. But they did whatever was asked of them, no matter how they might feel about it. And besides, there were more important things to focus on right now.

“Ok,” Nate said. “Where’s the kid?”

“Abstergo took him a little bit ago.” DK replied. “We don’t know where.”

“He has to still be on this floor then.” Shaun theorized. The elevator was still out and they’d come down the shaft, so it stood to reason they’d taken the boy somewhere on this floor. Probably to either some kind of lab, or to an animus chamber. There had been rumblings of a new type of animus—animus 4.3, one that was more immersive. Which was quite frankly, terrifying. And Shaun seriously hoped that they weren’t using that version here. 

The group made their way out of the detention area, and into the vestibule near the elevator. There were three hallways connected to the vestibule. And they had no idea where Elijah could be.

“We’ll find him faster if we split up.” Ismail suggested. 

They could cover more ground that way, yes. But, splitting up was just asking to get caught again, or worse. “Splitting up is a  _ terrible _ idea. Haven’t you ever watched a horror movie?” Shaun asked. 

“He’s right though,” Nate agreed with Ismail. “We can cover more ground if we split up. Besides, I think we’re  _ more  _ than a match for any axe-wielding psychopaths that might be lurking around.” 

Nate’s response was a trifle flippant, if they had time to argue, Shaun would be rightly offended and would give the other man a piece of his mind. This was a serious moment, and an axe-wielding psychopath wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibilities here; it shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand like that. But they had no time, so Shaun stayed silent. 

“Shaun, you and Hadassah head down that way,” Ismail instructed, pointing down a long hallway to his right. “DK and I will take this one over here, and Nate, you and Desmond can take the middle one. Whoever finds the kid, get him out of here as fast as possible, find someplace to hide outside and the rest of us will meet you there in fifteen minutes.”

* * *

  
  


Reluctantly, the groups split up. Desmond hadn’t logged a vote on splitting up, but if he had, he’d have agreed with Shaun. Yes, this was a more effective division of resources. But it also meant they could end up leaving someone behind, or get overpowered by guards. It could end  _ very _ badly any number of ways. 

“So, on a scale of 1-10, how do you think your first mission back is going?” Nate whispered as they headed down the hallway.

“Well, I’m not super fond of the whole splitting up thing, so that knocks a point off. So, maybe a 7?” Desmond replied. 

“Only a 7?” Nate asked. “I’d give it a 9. Barely any guards, some light free climbing, no explosions or chases. This is the least stressful assignment I’ve been on in...well, ever.”

“You say that now,” Desmond chuckled. “But we still have to find the prophet and get out of here and all in 15 minutes. Anything can happen between then and now.”

“That is true. Still, right now at least, things are pretty calm.” Nate replied.

The hallway connected with a large, open room. It gave Desmond a horrible feeling of deja vu; in the center of the room was an animus, presumably the prophet they were looking for strapped into it. A single tech stood beside the control console. Many things had changed while Desmond was in a coma, but not Abstergo’s shitty treatment of high value prisoners.

When the tech’s back was turned, the pair slipped into the room, only for a door in the back to open and for a large group of armed men to enter the room. 

They could fight, but there was no way they could take on that many men. So, instead, they surrendered. Even if it went against every one of Desmond’s instincts.

“You know,” Nate said to Desmond as a guard put him in a set of restraints. “I’m beginning to think Shaun was right about the whole  _ splitting up _ thing. Don’t tell him I said that.”

“Oh, I’m  _ definitely _ going to tell him that.” Provided they made it out of here alive, that is.

  
  


Shaun and Hadassah, who had come down a connecting hallway, arrived in time to see Desmond and Nate being forced into handcuffs and led out of the room. Shaun started forward into the room, never mind the fact they were seriously outnumbered. He wasn’t going to  **leave** Desmond--they had just gotten him back!!

Hadassah yanked him back, and refused to let him go. “There’s too many armed guards.” She would like nothing more to charge in there and save the day, but there were too many ways it could go wrong. But the kid was an innocent bystander, so they couldn’t put him at risk like that.

“So you just want to  _ leave _ them?” Shaun hissed. Frankly, in his opinion, it was a little hypocritical of Hadassah to expect him to back her when she did reckless things and then to not back him when he wanted to do the same.

“Of course not! But if we rush in there and those armed guards start shooting, the kid could get hurt. He didn’t ask to be a part of this. So, we have to be smart about this. We need to get out of here now and regroup.” Hadassah replied.

“And if they move them while we’re regrouping, we could lose them.” Shaun countered. 

“Look, they may pat them down and find one or all of Nate’s knives but I guarantee you they’re not gonna find the emergency tracker in the heel of his boot. And even if they do, we’ll find them and rescue them. Ok, I promise. But right now, we  _ need _ to get out of here before they find us too.”

Shaun barely had time to process her words before Hadassah was linking her hand with his and pulling him along behind her.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Nate and Desmond were taken back down to the holding cells. Ten minutes later, the guards brought the kid back and secured him in his cell.

“You must be Elijah; our friends told us about you.” Nate said. “I’m Nate and this is Desmond. And we’re going to get you out of here.”

“That’s what your friends said.” Elijah replied.

“There was a  _ slight _ hiccup in the plan, but we  _ are _ going to get you out of here. I promise.” Nate swore. Whether they got out of here by themselves, or the others came back for them, they  _ would _ get out of this place. That was  _ literally _ his job description.

  
  


“How’d you end up here anyway?” Desmond asked. There had to be something that put this kid on Abstergo’s radar. 

“My mom took me to a clinic--after that, armed men showed up and killed her, kidnapped me.” Elijah explained.

Oof, poor kid. “I’m sorry.” Desmond said quietly. 

“There’s a lot I don’t understand about all this--everyone keeps saying I’m a prophet, and I know they’re  _ right _ , but I don’t know what that means. And they keep sticking me in something called an Animus cuz I’m the son of someone they call  _ Subject 17 _ …”

Elijah continued speaking but all Desmond could hear was the thundering of his own heartbeat in his ears. It felt like he’d been punched in the gut.

“Shit…” He exhaled, dropping down onto the cot.

“Desmond, you alright?” Nate turned his attention to Desmond. The other man looked a little shaky.

“That’s why the old man sent DK and Ismail here; he wanted to rescue his grandson.” Desmond said.

“What?” Nate sounded rightly confused.

“Subject 17 is the name Abstergo gave the Mentor’s son.”

“Oh,” Nate said, the implication of what Desmond was telling him sinking in. “Shit.”

If Elijah was telling the truth (and Desmond had no reason to suspect he was lying) then this was his  **son** . He had a  _ kid _ that he’d known  **nothing** about. Well, shit. This changed things. Changed them  **massively** .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write that last little bit since I first started writing this fic.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desmond has a minor existential crisis, and the rest of the team tries to plan yet another rescue mission.

A kid. He had a kid--a _son_! This was _his_ **son**!! Desmond was still having a difficult time wrapping his head around that fact. Elijah was his son, and he’d known nothing about him. And now, Abstergo had him. Had **both** of them. Desmond knew next to nothing about this kid, other than the fact that he was a prophet and he’d watch Abstergo kill his mother. Both of those things were probably pretty traumatic, on top of the whole kidnapping this, which was _also_ likely traumatic. 

Elijah couldn’t be more than ten or eleven, which would make him born sometime around 2005. What was Desmond even doing in 2005? He could barely remember. Bartending probably, enjoying life off the farm and using his newfound freedom to sleep with anyone that caught his eye. Boy, he’d like to throttle his past self for not being more responsible. Because now he had a kid--a tiny human being to look after that didn’t have anyone else in the world.

He’d never thought about kids before. Part of that was because for those first few years off the farm, he wasn’t doing much more than existing. There hadn’t been any opportunities for relationships beyond a night or two. Of course,  _ then _ he’d been at Abstergo, then all of that Isu/world-ending stuff and the coma had happened. 

  
  


And  _ now _ fate was laughing at him, going ‘ _ hey, here’s a kid to look after on top of trying to stop both the Templars and Juno from destroying the world’ _ . What kind of father would he even be? It wasn’t as though he’d had the best example growing up. In fact, he’d spent most of his life downright  _ loathing _ his old man. What if Elijah hated him? The kid would have every right to do so.

“Hey,” Nate's voice brought him out of his downward spiral. “What are you thinking right now?” Nate’s voice was quiet, probably to keep Elijah from overhearing them.

“Oh, you know, not much. Just thinking my past self is both a  _ GIANT _ idiot  **and** an asshole. Because one, I put some poor girl in a situation to raise a kid by herself and two, because I wasn’t there for either of them, and they paid the price for it.” Desmond replied.

  
  


“That last part isn’t entirely on you. You didn’t know about him, and even if you had with the hard-on Abstergo has for your family, staying away was probably the best thing you could have done for them.” Nate said.

“He watched his mom get killed, Nate.” 

“Yeah, and you were in a coma, Desmond. That one’s on your dad and the rest of us. If your old man knew about them, he should have told the Brotherhood; then we could have had someone looking after them or something.” Nate had a point; it was clear his father had known about Elijah for a while now. “I mean, you’re not entirely blameless in this whole situation. But you can probably cut yourself a bit of a break. By all accounts, you’re pretty amazing--but you’re not omniscient, you couldn’t protect what you didn’t know existed.”

“I’m not disagreeing with that.” Desmond said.

“But you’re still freaking out?” Nate asked, amusement in his voice.

“A little bit, yeah. Twenty minutes ago, I didn’t know I had a kid. I don’t know what to do here. Do I tell him who I am? Or not? What if he hates me? God knows the Miles family doesn’t have the best history with father-son relationships. What if I’m a really shitty dad?”

Nate stretched, rising from the bench before turning back to Desmond. “I had a pretty good relationship with my father, so I can’t really talk about bad father-son relationships. And whether you tell him or not is entirely up to you. But, I think either way you’re going to end up playing father figure. From what I’ve seen, people have a tendency to look up to you; take Shaun and Rebecca for example--they talk about you like you’re otherworldly. Plus, you can offer him a chance to fuck over the people that killed his mom; the possibility of vengeance covers a multitude of sins.” 

“You speaking from experience?” Desmond asked.

“Not first-hand, but yeah.” Nate replied without elaborating.

  
  


There had been a  **LOT** of life redefining moments in Desmond’s life: running away from home, being kidnapped by Abstergo, learning how to be an Assassin, finding out about the Isu, almost dying and coming back, but  _ this _ ? Finding out he had a son? This beat them all as the most life changing moment by a  **longshot** . He still wasn’t certain he wanted Elijah to know he was his father, but Nate was probably right, he was responsible for the kid either way. But before he got a chance to even speak to Elijah, the door opened and a woman in a lab coat entered, followed by a group of armed guards.

The woman looked to be in her fifties, red hair pulled into a low bun, streaked with grey. “Time to go, Elijah.” she said.

Though they were in seperate cells, Desmond couldn’t help but move to try to put himself between them. Like hell was he going to let Abstergo drag his kid off, even if he was still having difficulty wrapping his head around Elijah’s existence.

“Oh don’t worry, Mr. Miles,” the woman in the lab coat said, looking over at him in amusement. “The two of you will be coming along as well. My superiors are excited at the prospect of having you back.” She looked excited in the way a scientist who had revived an ancient plague might--slightly deranged, a little terrified, and amazed; in other words, really fucking creepy.

“Well, I’m  _ thrilled _ to be here.” Desmond said. Sarcasm was the only weapon he had at the moment, and while it wasn’t very effective, he was going to use it all the same.

The guards pulled the three of them out of their cells; Desmond and Nate went willingly. There was no reason to resist. Right now, they were exactly where they needed to be. Either they would find a way to escape, or the others would rescue them. But for now, their best option was to sit tight.

“At least they’re keeping us together.” Nate whispered as they were marched to a windowless van. He had a point, any escape or rescue attempt would be more difficult if they were separated. 

* * *

  
  
  
  


Abstergo had Desmond...again. Shaun had failed to protect him  **AGAIN** . Needless to say, he was less than thrilled about it. If he stopped and thought about it logically, Hadassah was right. There were too many ways them trying to help Nate and Desmond back there could have gone wrong. He also would have known that Hadassah had to be pretty torn up about leaving them behind as well, given how close Nate and the Kadiris were. But, Shaun  _ wasn’t _ thinking logically. All he could think about was the fact they’d left Desmond behind to potential torture or death, and he was  _ PISSED _ .

He hadn’t been able to protect Desmond once before, and Desmond had almost died--Shaun had carried that guilt with him all this time. He couldn’t bear the thought of it happening again.

They had regrouped with Ismail and DK and were making their way back to base. He and Hadassah were (regrettably) crammed into the backseat; regrettable because he wasn’t speaking to her currently.

  
  


Hadassah was also less than thrilled with the whole situation. Rescuing one brother just to leave the other behind didn’t sit well with her. Leaving some innocent kid with Abstergo wasn’t her favorite decision either. But it was the best decision she could have made, and she’d stand by it--no matter how Shaun felt about it. 

All they could do now was try again.  _ This _ time, they would  **ALL** get out--no matter who she had to kill to ensure it.

“I have no doubt that Nate’ll look after Desmond--we’ll be able to track them.” Ismail said, glancing back at the scowling faces in the backseat. “We’ll get them out, don’t worry.”

Shaun’s frown deepened. It wasn’t just the fact that Desmond was back in Abstergo’s hands, it was the fact that he’d  _ left _ him there. Getting him back wouldn’t change the fact that he’d only been there because Shaun had left him behind.

  
  
  


Rebecca, understandably, was no happier than Shaun. But, she could admit it was tactically the best decision. Sometimes in the field, you had to make difficult calls, and she was infinitely glad she wasn’t the one making them. Now, all they could do was wait until Nate switched on his tracker, then they could try this whole rescue thing again. Now, if she could just get certain members of her team to actually focus on planning for a rescue instead of arguing.

“You’re acting like this is all  _ my _ fault!” Hadassah and Shaun hadn’t stopped arguing since they’d gotten back, and frankly, Rebecca was tired of it. There were more important things to focus on right now than petty arguments. The fact that  _ she _ was the one here being an actual responsible adult was both amusing and frightening.

“We could have helped them!” 

“There were too many ways it could have gone wrong! I know you’re pissed but don’t take it out on me.”

  
  


“Hey--there’s movement on Nate’s tracker!” Isabela announced, leaning out of the main room where she’d been keeping an eye on the monitors.

“You two wanna help plan a rescue or do you just wanna keep yelling at one another?” Rebecca asked in irritation.

“Plan.” They replied in unison.

“Good, then let’s get to it.” 

* * *

  
  
  


“So,” Desmond asked as the three of them were stuffed into the van and handcuffed to the benches. “Where are we going?”

There was a single guard in the back with them, and she didn’t respond, eyes focused on the now-closed back doors.

“Oh come on, it’s not like telling me is going to do anything--I mean, I’m handcuffed to a bench. And lockpicking wasn’t part of my Animus education.”

The guard still didn’t respond.

“Look, I’m gonna keep asking until I get an answer. So, your options are: answer the question or find out  _ exactly _ how annoying I can be.” He added the last part with a grin, noticing Nate chuckling at his words.

The guard sighed. “Grand Master Rikkin has plans for you and the Prophet.”

“I notice I wasn’t included in that; so they’re just what, going to take me out back and shoot me?” Nate asked.

The guard turned to look at Nate, “I’m sure the Grand Master will find a way to use you before that happens: waste not, want not and all that.”

“Sounds like fun.” Nate muttered.

“Rikkin?” Desmond recognized the name. He’d been one of the men in suits that had shown up just before Lucy had gotten him out of Vidic’s clutches. He also recalled reading a few of the e-mail between him and Vidic. From everything he’d learned of Rikkin, the guy seemed like an even bigger piece of shit than Vidic. “You’re telling me someone hasn’t killed that asshole yet?”

Their guard frowned. “The Grand Master is a great man!” she insisted.

“Ah,” Nate interjected, “You’re one of those ‘ _ true believers’ _ \--been drinkin’ the Abstergo kool-aid?”

“We’re trying to make the world a better place.” she hissed, glaring at Nate.

“It’s sad that you think that.”

  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Meanwhile, at an undisclosed location, a man sat behind a large desk in an office nestled high above a bustling city. Dark hair cropped short, hazel eyes and an open and expressive face. If you asked, he would tell you he was perfectly average in every way--at least at a glance; which was how he liked it. 

“Well now,” he drawled as he looked over his emails, “Here’s an interesting tidbit: Rikkin says that not only does he have out little prophet, but he also has our wayward Subject 17; he’s having them both transferred to the Madrid facility.”

The dark-haired woman idly digging through the wet bar in the corner suddenly turned her full attention to him.

“Father and son. Now  _ that _ is quite a boon for the Order. That bloodline has always had a strange immunity to the artifacts; I would  _ love _ to get my hands on them.” she said, tucking a strand of curly hair behind one ear.

“Would you now?” he asked, mischief evident in both his grin and tone. “Well, what do you say we have them transferred to  _ us _ instead?” He’d never liked Rikkin--self aggrandizing bastard. And he too would like to take a closer look at what it was that made Desmond Miles so special. If he could get his hands on both Subject 17  **and** the prophet, he could learn  _ far _ more than Alan Rikkin could. And if he could do that  _ AND _ piss off the old man, he could call it a double win.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea!” his companion replied.

A few keystrokes later, the deed was done. Now came the waiting. Soon,  _ he _ would have all he needed to advance the Order’s plans. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desmond tries to plan an escape and bond with his newly discovered son. Only one of those things is successful.

Desmond had lost count of how long the three of them had been in on the move--hours at least. There wasn’t much talking going on, mostly because it wouldn’t be safe to talk about potential escapes with a guard listening. It was easier to simply sit in silence, gathering information for now. Though, Desmond would admit after several hours of silence, it was beginning to grate on his nerves.

As they sat there, Desmond contemplating whether or not to start humming just as something to break the silence, the hatch that connected the front of the van to the back slid open. Barely visible through the space was a pair of eyes and part of a face.

“Can you believe this bullshite, Tabby?” The guard up front asked. “Halfway to our destination and now we’ve got _new_ orders to leave our guests at site echo. Wish they’d told us this a few hours ago.”

“Who gave the order?” The guard with them, presumably Tabby, asked.

“Adler.” The other guard replied. “If upper management could stop fucking each other over and do their damn jobs, that would be great.”

Tabby sighed. “I agree completely. But it’s best not to argue with the orders--if we piss off Rikkin, the most he’s going to do is kill us. But Adler? Who knows what he’ll do.”

Desmond didn’t recognize the name, but he filed that information away for later; a power struggle could be useful to the Assassins. If they could play Rikkin and this Adler person against one another, it could help to destabilize the Templar Order enough to buy them an advantage.

“Trouble in Templar paradise?” Nate asked with a grin. Was it wise to antagonize the person holding them captive? Probably not, but it sure was fun! And after spending several hours cooped up in the back of a transport van, Nate would take whatever fun he could get.

“That’s none of your business.” Tabby snapped, not looking at them.

“That’s code for _‘yes’_ \--sounds like the underlings are unhappy with this turn of events.” Nate added in an aside to Desmond.

“Isn’t that the way it is with any organization bent on world domination? They start out strong, then fall to infighting. It’s inevitable.” Desmond replied.

“Be quiet, both of you!” Their guard didn’t do anything but raise her voice at them, which wasn’t exactly enough to deter either of them from pressing the issue.

  
  


“So, this Adler--is he another Grand Master, like Rikkin?” Desmond asked.

Tabby didn’t respond.

“He’d have to be, wouldn’t he? I mean, not just anyone could have prisoners transferred to their care mid-transport. And if our guards are scared of him, he must be a proper bastard.” Nate replied.

“That’s a good point. I mean, they’re all bastards but if they’re more scared of Adler than the rest, he’s going to have to be the biggest bastard of them all.”

  
  


He and Nate did their best to pry any more information out of their guard to no avail. Silence washed over them again. Then, just before the silence became oppressive, the van rolled to a stop. Tabby rose to her feet, taser in hand as the door opened to reveal two more guards (presumably the ones that had been up front). 

The three of them were marched from the van, through a loading bay and into a building. From there, they were placed in a service elevator and swiftly transported to one of the upper floors and then finally, taken off the elevator, marched through an empty office area and placed inside a room that looked startlingly familiar.

* * *

  
  


The guards left, the sound of the door locking with an echoing ‘click’ behind them. Nate began searching the room for something; Desmond didn’t know if he was looking for a way out, or simply something to help them escape. Elijah sat down on the edge of one of the small cots. If he wanted to talk to the kid, now was likely the best time.

“Look,” Desmond said, moving to stand next to the cot and running a hand through his hair. “I’m going to tell you something important, because I’d rather you hear it from _me_ than them, and it doesn’t have to mean anything unless you want it to…”

Elijah was watching him expectantly. Desmond took a deep breath, focusing for a moment on the encouraging smile Nate was giving him from across the room. _Well, here goes nothing_ , he thought.

“My name is Desmond Miles, and I’m your father.”

  
  


Elijah was silent for a long time, when he spoke next, his anger was palpable. He jumped to his feet, fists clenched. He hadn’t given his father much thought over the years, until he’d learned it was his fault that he’d been kidnapped and his mother had been killed. Lately he’d often thought what he would say to the man if given the chance...well, here was his chance. 

“Where have you been ?! This is all **your** fault!!” He shoved Desmond as roughly as a kid could shove someone twice their size.

  
  


“You’re not wrong about that. You and your mom were only targets because of me. As to where I was, I didn’t know you existed until a few hours ago. And I spent a couple of years in a coma recently; so even if I had known about you, I couldn’t have done much for you.” Desmond replied honestly. “You have every right to be mad--at Abstergo, at me, at the Assassins, at the world, at _everything_. I’m not asking you to give that anger up, at least not right now. You can hate me all you want, all I’m asking for is a chance. I can’t change the past, but you’re not alone anymore. And, I can help you find the people who killed your mom and make them pay.”

Elijah was confused. Most people, when confronted with the fact you were angry at them, got angry back. And yet, his father was just accepting his anger. Plus, he was offering him a chance for revenge. And he wanted revenge on the people who’d killed his mother more than anything else. So, for now, he’d accept help from his father.

  
  
  


Desmond decided it was best to give Elijah some space for the moment and turned his attention to figuring a way out of the room. 

  
  


Nate had been doing his best not to eavesdrop, but it was difficult to tune the conversation out in such a small room. He should probably stay out of it, he knew, but he’d never been very good at keeping his nose out of things. 

“You know,” he said to Elijah who had stomped over to his side of the room. “Your dad wasn’t entirely honest back there. See, you’re special and even if you weren’t _his_ kid, Abstergo probably would have found you anyway. At least this way, you had people looking for you.”

Elijah didn’t respond, so Nate continued. “I won’t lie to you and tell you the Assassins are a perfect group, but we’re generally better than the Templars, and you’ll be safe with us.”

“He said he’d help me get revenge, was that part true?” Elijah asked.

“Yeah. Now, it’ll be a process--a long one, it won’t be instant. But we’ll teach you how to take care of yourself, and we’ll have your back through it all.” Nate promised.

  
  


That seemed to placate Elijah and things were quiet again. Desmond, looking around the room finally realized why it seemed so familiar. Unless he was mistaken, it was almost a carbon copy of the room he’d been in at the Abstergo Rome facility. That was disconcerting. Either Abstero wasn’t very creative when it came to the layout of their secret labs, or it was designed this way specifically to fuck with him.

  
  
  


The door slid open and a man and a woman entered, followed by two armed guards.

“Excellent! I see you all arrived in one piece. Welcome to our little corner of the world!” The man said, gesturing broadly as he spoke. “My name is Robin Adler, and this is my associate Helena Queen. We’re very excited to have you here, Mr. Miles. And you as well, little Prophet.”

The minute Adler turned his attention to Elijah, Desmond and Nate closed ranks, shielding the boy from view.

_We’re not on vacation you nutbar_ , Desmond thought. Their host (and he used that term lightly) seemed amiable, if a bit unhinged. Then again, that could have been the soft lilt of his accent that gave him that air--British, Desmond would guess, though he couldn’t pinpoint the exact location.

“Adler, huh? Thought we were supposed to be taken to Rikkin?” Desmond asked.

Their captor flashed him a conspiratory grin. “Yes well, things get lost in transit all the time. Besides, the old man just acquired a new piece for his pet project, so I doubt he’ll even notice you’re not there.” he waved it off.

Desmond didn’t like the way Adler’s companion was staring at them. It was unnerving to say the least. Like a cat watching a mouse caught in a trap. 

“We’re going to have so much fun together!” she exclaimed giddily. “I have such plans! We’re going to solve the mysteries of the universe, you and I.”

Adler smiled. “I would rest up if I were you; tomorrow is when the fun starts.”

And with that, the pair of them left.

  
  


Nate turned to look at Desmond. “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be out of here before then. Ms. Queen looks at though her idea of _‘fun’_ involves vivisection.”

“I’m all for getting out of here.” Desmond agreed. “I’m open to suggestions on how to do that exactly.”

Just once, he’d like to meet a Templar who wasn’t batshit crazy. Statistically, there had to be at least one person in the organization like that. He’d seen evidence of that type of Templar in Connor’s memories of Haytham. And running into one like that outside of the Animus would be a nice change of pace.

Nate was looking over the door frame. “The lock here looks like it’s electronic. Now, I’m neither Shaun nor Rebecca so I can’t do some fancy hack but I _should_ be able to get it open; if we can pry this back panel off here.” Nate tapped said panel.

“How are you going to pry it open?” Elijah asked curiously

“That’s a good question.” Nate replied. “And if I were anyone else, I wouldn’t have an answer. But, I’m me. So, Abstergo took a good chunk of my knives when they caught us, but not all of them. So, I’m gonna wedge a knife in there and leverage it open.” He turned to look at Elijah. “First lesson, it’s always better to be over prepared--even if your teammates make fun of you.”

“Alright boy scout, let’s get to it.” Desmond instructed.

Nate flashed him a grin before pulling a knife from somewhere and turning his attention to prying the plate from the wall. It took a few moments and a few false starts before the plate was successfully pried loose.

“Ok, step one is done. I’m gonna need a minute or two to figure out which wires to cut to get this open.” 

“I can do it.” Elijah said, stepping closer.

Nate handed the knife over to Elijah. “Be my guest.”

“So, what’s the plan when we get out of here?” Elijah asked as he worked.

“Kill the bad guys, make it outside and find a way to contact our people to let them know where we are just in case the transmitter in my boot isn't’ working, then try to find a way to make it back to HQ.” Nate replied as if it would be a walk in the park.

“When we get out of here, stick close and stay behind me.” Desmond added. 

Elijah broke into a wide grin as the door slid open. “I’m good with tech.” he added with a shrug.

* * *

  
  
  


A few hours later, Shaun had calmed down considerably. They had a location on Desmond and the others and were preparing to follow after. He figured now was as good a time as any to clear the air with his partner. He found her downstairs, helping Bat pack up artifacts. Earlier, Rebecca and Ismail had decided it would be safer to move bases--so everything was getting ready for transport.

“Hey,” he greeted. 

“Hey yourself, Hastings.” she replied, continuing to focus on the box in front of her.

“Do you have a minute?”

Hadassah looked over at Bat, who was muttering quietly to himself as he packed things away, then back at Shaun. 

“For you, I have several.” she replied, following him out into the hallway. “So, what’s on your mind?”

“I wanted to apologize for earlier--I was out of line.” Apologizing wasn’t one of his many talents, but he was making an effort. So, while it might be fun to let his apology spiral into full on grovelling, Hadassah would put him out of his misery.

“Apology accepted. And I’m sorry too.” she hadn’t exactly been a mature, responsible adult about the whole situation either. So truthfully, they were _both_ at fault for the earlier shout fest. “I don’t like arguing with you.”

Shaun laughed. “You _love_ arguing--with me **and** everyone else.”

Like a mature adult, Hadassah stuck her tongue out at him. “Well, I don’t like being _mad_ at you then.”

“Me either.” He replied. “So, are we good?”

“Yeah Shaun, we’re good.” she confirmed.

“If you two are done making googly eyes at one another, I could really use some help with this box!” Bat’s voice shattered the moment.

“The only person here who makes googly eyes at anyone Bartholomew, is you.” Shaun said frowning as he picked up the other edge of the large box, helping Bat sit it down on a table.

“He has a point.” Hadassah agreed.

“Whatever.” Bat huffed. “Shouldn’t you two be getting ready to go?”

“Good point. C’mon Hastings, we’ve got a rescue to get to.” Hadassah said, pulling Shaun along after her.

* * *

  
  
  
  
  


Rebecca was breaking her ‘no fieldwork’ rule. But it was to rescue Desmond, whom she considered a friend. So, it was worth it. If the last break-in was a covert affair, this one certainly wasn’t. Rescuing their missing members was more important than remaining undetected. 

From the outside, this looked like any other office building--except for the giant Abstergo logo on the front. Thankfully, they’d broken into enough of these types of buildings enough that Rebecca could do it in her sleep. The hard part would be in narrowing down which floor Desmond and the others were being held on. 

The group moved quickly, subduing any resistance they met along the way. They came across a room labeled ‘security’; this was probably the security hub for the whole building. They could use that. The door was slightly ajar--Shaun kicked it open, startling the two guards inside. Before they could raise an alarm, the Kadiris neutralized them. Rebecca sat down at the desk, eyes scanning the monitors.

“Found them!” she exclaimed, pointing to one of the monitors. “Looks like they escaped--they’re on the twelfth floor; seems like there’s an excessive amount of guards up there, they could probably use a hand or two. You know I hate the idea of splitting up, but I think in this case it’s justified. DK, Ismail and I will stay down here and keep an eye on things. You and Hadassah head upstairs and find the others.”

With access to the security system, this was the best place for Rebecca to be. She could keep track of things and hopefully get them all out of here in one piece.

“Are you sure?” Shaun asked.

“Yeah, go get our boys.” Rebecca ordered.

  
  
  


With a salute, Shaun and Hadassah headed off. 

“C’mon, we’ve got a long way to go.” Hadassah headed to the stairwell.

“You want me to climb twelve flights of stairs in a hurry?” Shaun asked in disbelief.

“We’ve climbed worse. Besides, the guards are probably watching the elevators. This way is easier.” 

Shaun sighed. “Fine, let’s go.”

Shaun considered himself mostly in shape, but dashing up that many flights of stairs was taking a toll on him. With a frown, he noticed that Hadassah seemed only moderately winded. Well, that was just frustrating. But they’d made it. Now all they had to do was find the others.

  
  


“How close are we?” Shaun asked as they made their way through the empty floor. 

“Around the next corner, they’ve ducked into the first rrom on the right.” Rebecca’s voice was clear over the comm.

“Great.” Shaun replied. They could rescue everyone and get the hell out of here.

“Guards!” Rebecca hissed, as the pair rounded the corner and came face to face with said guards. They recovered quickly though, Shaun stepped closer to the guard nearest to him, stomping down hard on the man’s foot, before driving his fist into the guard’s face. The man went down immediately and didn’t get up. 

Hadassah disarmed the guard in front of her, before shooting him with his own gun. Shaun was surprised by her use of the firearm. Historically, she didn’t use them.

“I said I didn’t _like_ guns, not that I didn’t know how to use them.” she explained, keeping the gun.

  
  


Gently, Shaun pushed the office door open, only to be yanked inside.

“Easy! It’s your knight in shining armor!” Instinctively, he brought his arms up to protect his face, bracing himself. Thankfully, his warning seemed to have stopped Nate in his tracks.

  
  


“Shaun!” Relief washed over Desmond.

“You’ve got good timing.” Nate said. “Though, I don’t see any armor Hastings.” 

“It’s figurative.” Shaun replied.

“It’s good to see you guys. You okay?” Hadassah asked from the doorway.

“Yeah, we’re good sunshine. It’s good to see you too.” Nate replied.

“Elijah, this is Shaun and Hadassah--they’re assassins. Guys, this is Elijah; he’s my son.” Desmond introduced. Shaun looked as flabbergasted as Desmond had felt about that particular revelation. Hadassah though, didn’t miss a beat, giving the boy a comforting smile.

“It’s nice to meet you Elijah. I bet you’re ready to get out of here.”

Elijah nodded.

“A couple of things first. Desmond, this is for you.” she handed him the gun she was carrying. “And this is for you,” she handed a knife hanging from her belt to Elijah. “Don’t lose that ok, it’s really important to me. I’m going to do my best to make sure none of those guards get close to you, but just in case I can’t and they manage to grab you--just stick them with the pointy end.”

“I don’t know if I can.” Elijah admitted. 

“That’s ok. Hopefully you won’t have to. But hold onto it just in case.”

“What, no weapon for little old me?” Nate asked, his tone teasing.

“Nate, I’m _pretty_ sure you already have at least one knife.” Hadassah said.

“True.” Nate agreed. “Let’s get out of here.”

  
  


* * *

Rebecca was watching on the monitors as Shaun and Hadassah met up with the others, and as they ran into another group of guards. DK had gone to make sure their escape route was clear, and Ismail was keeping an eye on the unconscious security guards in the hub.

Once she was certain the others were going to make it to the lower floors, she and Ismail left the hub, heading for their escape vehicle. 

“Meet us in the loading area.” She advised the others.

  
  


“Are they on their way?” DK asked from where she stood next to the large, stolen truck.

“Should be.” Rebecca said at about the time the elevator doors opened and the others rushed out toward the truck.

“Everybody in the back!” she instructed, following after them.

Once they were all inside, Ismail shut and secured the door, before climbing into the passenger seat.

Desmond breathed a sigh of relief; they had made it.

  
  
  


The drive was mostly silent, except for a few scattered, soft conversations. After an unknown amount of time, the truck stopped and the door opened, revealing Ismail and DK. 

“From here, we’re taking a boat to our new headquarters.” Ismail announced. “We left the other one for security purposes. Barring any incidents, the others will join us later.”

“Where’s my baby?” Nate asked.

“Right where you left her--Tanner and the others are bringing her.”

“Makes sense, seeing as how Tanner is the only other pilot we’ve got. I was worried she’d get abandoned in the shuffle.” Nate admitted.

Ismail smiled as they climbed aboard the boat. “I know how much you love that plane Nate. I’d never let Winnie get left behind if I could help it.”

“That’s why you’re my favorite.”

“Whoa, hold on a second.” Hadassah interjected. “Shaun and I haul ass up twelve flights of stairs to actually rescue you and _Ismail_ is your favorite? Rude.”

Nate just laughed.

“Well, you guys are my favorites.” Desmond said.

“At least **someone** appreciates us.” Hadassah then turned to Elijah who looked a little lost. “Are you hungry? I’m sure there’s some snack in the galley if you wanna come with me.”

“Sure.” Elijah replied.

“I think I’ll come along as well.” Nate said, following after them.

Ismail and DK had gone to prepare the boat for launch, leaving Shaun, Rebecca and Desmond standing on the deck.

“So, you have a son?” Shaun asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, I was pretty surprised to learn that myself. And he was pretty pissed off about it all.” Desmond replied.

“I bet.” Shaun added.

“You can’t really blame the kid for being mad. This life isn’t easy for the people who _choose_ it, let alone those who are forced into it.” Rebecca commented.

“Yeah, I know a little about that.” Desmond replied.

“You’ll figure it all out--I have complete faith in you.” Rebecca paused. “Oh, I went through the info you guys nabbed from the Templars earlier.”

“Oh yeah? Did you find anything interesting?” Desmond inquired.

“A few things. We already knew about Abstergo’s Animus research facilities in Philadelphia and Rome, but apparently there’s also one in Madrid. Also I found some plans for a new type of Animus; it actually _uses_ the bleeding effect along with a type of harness that moves with the subject to give a greater synchronization effect.”

“That sounds terrifying.” Desmond said.

“How do they keep their subjects from losing their minds?” Shaun asked.

“I don’t know that they do. This _is_ Abstergo we’re talking about.” Rebecca answered.

“So, are we going to do something about that facility?” Desmond asked. 

“Ismail and I are currently brainstorming a plan for that; I’ll let you guys know when it’s ready.” Rebecca said.

With that, they all headed below deck. Things had calmed down for now. But Deswmond was certain that his life would never be the same. And things would only get more complicated from here on out. Elijah was a prophet, which meant he was the living embodiment of Juno’s lost love. That meant, no doubt, that a confrontation with the Isu would be unavoidable. They had to be ready for it--there was more than just the world at stake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done! Next up is a couple of short filler pieces, then a tie-in centered on Cal.


End file.
